The Art of Nanotech

Exploring the invisible world of nanotechnology
An exhibition of extraordinary images from the MacDiarmid Institute collection

Michael Fowler Centre Foyer
8-11 February 2011
Entry is free

The Art of Nanotechnology exhibition is in association with the MacDiarmid Institute biennial conference, 7-11 February, which brings together nanotechnology researchers from around the world. The MacDiarmid Institute is a network of New Zealand researchers involved in nanotechnology, and one of 8 centres of research excellence chosen by the government for special support. It is hosted by Victoria University of Wellington in partnership with the University of Canterbury, Industrial Research Limited, Otago Univeristy, GNS Science and Massey University.

Nanotechnology is one of the key technologies of the 21st Century, yet probably the one least understood by the general populace. While nanotechnology is well on its way to becoming an integral part of our everyday lives, its workings are still shrouded in mystery for many of us.

One nanometre is one billionth of a metre. A normal microscope is not nearly powerful enough to be able to see such small things and so researchers often use electron microscopes, which can “see” things down to a size of about 10 nanometres (that’s one hundredth of a micron or one hundred millionth of a metre) and scanning tunnelling microscopes which can even “see” individual atoms (about 0.2nm in size).

The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology asked researchers from around New Zealand to enter the most interesting images from their work in a competition; the best images are displayed in this exhibition.

The work was first shown in Christchurch last year, but the exhibition was cut short by the earthquake on 4 September.